Internal Temps?

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Just put a new HDD in a friend’s PC, making it the Master and his old drive the Slave. Noticed the air coming out of the PS was much warmer than the air coming out of any PC I ever saw before. Installed the mobo maker’s monitoring software, and it says the CPU temp is running 136-140F, the System temp 113-118F. Should I be concerned about these numbers? The case does have provision for an additional fan.

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What kind of processor? Intel chips (especially P4) should run MUCH cooler. That’s about right for an AMD chip.

I have an Intel P4 2.4 Ghz (almost 3 years old). My CPU runs about 85-90F idle and the system runs around 80-85F idle. When gaming, it gets up to about CPU 110F and System 100F.

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MarkJ,

>> What kind of processor? Intel chips (especially P4) should run MUCH cooler. That’s about right for an AMD chip. <<

It's an AMD Athlon XP 1900+, according to the BIOS screens. So I guess the temps are OK. Thanks for the info.

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That CPU temperature is still a little hot. 136F=58C. Your processor should be running somewhere around 50C. Try moving the ribbon cables around so as to get a better air flow in your case, then try adding another case fan. AMD processors are rather finicky about air flow. Having a front-mounted case fan that sucks in cold air, with two rear-mounted fans sucking hot air out usually does the trick. Also, check your CPU fan for a build-up of dust, and clean it out if it’s crudded up. The heat sink fins can also get clogged; this will raise the CPU temperature to unacceptable levels. You really don’t need to be concerned with system temps and hdd temps, unless they’re really out of line with what you should be seeing. The CPU temperature is the important thing with AMD processors, as the critical temp (where your CPU sustain damage) is usually around 70C. HOWEVER, some AMD processors — notably older Thunderbird cores — will run hotter than 50C. My old 1.34 MHZ Thunderbird ran consistently at 58C — normal for that processor. Newer Athlons, Durons, and Semprons run cooler than that, and should (in an ideal world) run around 46-50C, if properly cooled. Also be aware that temperature monitoring software is notoriously inaccurate — some programs are better than others. Motherboard Monitor 5 is good. Just check the build-up of dust on/around the CPU fan, and try shifting the cables around to get better air flow. If that doesn’t help, add fans. Hard wire them to the PSU — personally, I don’t trust software that “slows down” chassis fans. But, get rid of the dust!.

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Something else you could try would be to use a better quality thermal paste when installing your heat sink/fan. Using Arctic Silver (instead of generic thermal paste) will actually lower your CPU temperature a couple of degrees. I’ve also had good luck with Arctic Alumina, although it doesn’t seem to be quite as effective as their silver-based compound. Should you be using one of the thermal tapes that come pre-stuck to the bottom of most new heat sinks, you might want to switch to using thermal paste. Be aware that you can’t reuse those tapes. But, that’s a last-ditch effort — my guess is that cleaning your CPU fan and installing new front and rear chassis fans will do the trick.

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Make sure the case is clean of dust bunnies too. Some PCs only use the Power Supply’s fan for cooling – I consider this a misguided and sleazy cost saving measure – make sure there is at least one case fan exhausting fan out the back. If room, a case fan in front, drawing cool air in, is good too as it promotes good front to back air flow. I have replaced all my flat ribbon cables with round cables, not because they look neater, which they do, but because they restrict air flow less.

If you decide to replace the thermal paste with a good type (silver or ceramic based) ensure (1) you power down and UNPLUG your PC. (2) You keep yourself grounded to the case to prevent destroying ESD sensitive devices, such as the CPU, RAM, and other ICs, by a static discharge from your touch, and (3) clean the old paste/tape off the CPU and HS thoroughly – use 90% alcohol (73% leaves a film) or acetone.

Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!

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